To coincide with the launch of his book ‘Une sacrée envie de foutre le bordel’, the boss of Iliad (Free) took part in a stand-up show at the Olympia, with an intriguing theme to say the least: ‘How to become a billionaire’. We take a closer look at this businessman, France’s 9th richest man.
On 18 September, Xavier Niel captivated the audience at the Olympia with an event somewhere between a TED conference and a one-man show. France’s cashiest billionaire talked about his career, his scandals and his successes, and revealed some surprising advice on how to become a major fortune himself.
Il reste autant de places pour l’Olympia que de cheveux sur mon crâne pic.twitter.com/Ymfpem9h1f
— Xavier Niel (@Xavier75) August 29, 2024
Xavier Niel confides in Olympia
‘How to become a billionaire’. The title of this entrepreneurial show brings a smile to the face, and is reminiscent of the (paid) training courses offered by life gurus on social networks who promise you how to make massive amounts of money in record time. It was with this enticing name that Xavier Niel attracted 2,000 people to the Olympia on 18 September, including journalists, politicians, financiers and informed or simply curious members of the public. During this one-off stand-up show, which was sold out, the big French boss talked about his personal rise.
Un rap contenders avec SFR https://t.co/7GxYYb5Onp
— Xavier Niel (@Xavier75) August 27, 2024
Self-deprecating, megalomaniacal, as funny as he was relevant, the man who is worth 22.1 billion euros according to Challenges magazine gave his audience a number of tips on how to have a bank account that should protect all his descendants over several generations from any financial problems. But also how to turn ideas into reality. This theme was also an opportunity to look back on the highlights of his career and to draw on his own experience to make a few recommendations.
The first is not the least: ‘go to prison’. Xavier Niel is referring to his risky investments in the sex-shop industry in 2004, which landed him in La Santé prison for a few weeks. This was after he was arrested for pimping and money laundering. “Cross the yellow line, but never cross it” said the businessman at the time. This advice was allegedly given to him by his examining magistrate in the early 2000s, and echoes the Uber and Airbnb systems that play with regulations to do business.
‘Every success is made up of many failures’.
Xavier Niel then moved on to the subject of work teams and the need to diversify his staff. “Among Free’s five starting partners, there were three different religions” he mentions, highlighting the success of his IT courses at Ecole 42, which he co-founded in 2013, not dwelling on the degrees or life paths of its participants. And yes, trust is everything in the business world!
“Be weird”
‘Deal with the devil’ was the third topic addressed by Xavier Niel. It was a throwback to the days when one of France’s richest men was a hacker. For example, he was behind the creation of pornographic services on minitel using unscrupulous methods, and the cracking of Canal+ decoders that were thought to be untouchable. These activities led to his arrest, but also to his becoming a correspondent for the French secret services, thanks to his mastery of computers. “The catacombs are the other side of the city, like hacking… And continuing to go down there keeps me in touch with life” explains the entrepreneur. A fake Brut report on this intriguing attraction to the catacombs was then aired, as part of a series of comedy sequences broadcast throughout the show, including the reading of insulting tweets and humorous videos in the company of content creators such as Lena Situations and Squeezie.
“Be weird. Look at Elon Musk, he’s crazy, he doesn’t play by the usual rules” says Xavier Niel.
After having pizzas delivered to the audience, Xavier Niel returned, not without irony, to another subject: ‘Respect your competitors’. Xavier Niel and Free’s CMs are very good at tackling and responding to their telephony counterparts and twitters on X with humour. He then addressed Free’s launch with its famous affordable packages, such as the two-euro package unveiled in 2012, which helped drive down industry prices. “We’ve given you back tens of billions of euros in purchasing power. I’m proud of that. The people who change life are not the ministers, it’s you who create companies.”
Xavier Niel makes a mess of things
Finally, a message of positivity rounded off this original show. Using the parenthesis ‘Believe’, Xavier Niel spoke of the only important prolific investment: oneself. “The only investment you can make is in yourself. To believe in your dreams. To believe that tomorrow will be better than today. To be an entrepreneur, you have to be optimistic. I love France, even though it’s the country of fading doctors, ball-busters and grumblers. It’s the only country where they pay you to create a start-up if you’re unemployed. In fact, being an entrepreneur is like being unemployed – you get up whenever you want! So all you need is an idea, get started, and off you go. Thank you, France!”
A success for the boss of Iliad (Free), widely covered by the media and on social networks, which should encourage sales of his new book ‘Une sacrée envie de foutre le bordel’, published by Flammarion on 25 September. In interviews with Jean-Louis Missika, Xavier Niel talks about himself, his choices, his regrets and his hopes. The book is as descriptive as it is inspiring, chronicling the incredible career of France’s most outspoken businessman.
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Featured photo : © LinkedIn Mounir Laggoune
